The faint tapping of a keyboard could be heard in the almost empty graphics department.  Fuu leaned back in her chair, studying her work before clicking the “undo” button for the hundredth time that night. This was frustrating. It seemed no matter what artistic approach she took with the promotional poster, it wasn’t quite perfect enough for her to be proud of it. After a few more minutes blending the pictures and doing re-touches, she closed the program and clicked the internet icon. She figured she would blow off some stress and pick up right where she left off tomorrow morning, hopefully with a clearer view of what she wanted. 

Typing in her login information, she was surprised at how much mail had accumulated in the past few weeks. Although scrolling down, she wasn’t surprised that a majority of these e-mails were from her family, particularly her mother. She opened one that was sent just yesterday and read through it, or more skimmed, before clicking the delete button. The page automatically directed her to the next e-mail, also from her mother, and she promptly clicked delete again. Fuu felt this wasn’t a heartless thing to do, as all of them generally said the same thing. Where are you living now? How was work? When will you come to visit? The questions were always the same, and reading them over and over made her feel as if she was back home again.  

She deleted the rest of these e-mails and cleared out her junk mail before composing a reply. It was short, direct, and Fuu tried not to draw it out, as she knew her mother would analyze every sentence and would write her an even longer reply afterwards. She made sure to include that she was doing perfectly fine, she was getting good pay, and that she had even made friends while she was in Seoul. Reading it over she felt that it sounded a bit like a grade schooler writing a paper on how their first day at a new school went, still, she shrugged and clicked the send button.

Closing her laptop, she checked the time on her phone and quickly packed her things. Kass had texted her during the day, asking if she’d like to walk home after work with her and Mai. Fuu had happily agreed, as she didn’t have an accountabilibuddy by her side whenever she left for home, and she felt this would be a good opportunity to bond with her roommates.  

She was a bit sad that Renn wouldn’t be joining them, she felt that her friendship with the older girl was weakest out of all three, physically at least. They were both on good terms, with the constant IMing between them, no doubt a bond had formed between the two. Though as far as socially interacting outside the world of the web, there wasn’t much save for the few moments when Renn was home or they passed each other in the building.  

Mai was almost the complete opposite. Fuu was around her more often, whether it be in their room back at the dorm, or sometimes during breaks at work. Some people would predict many awkward silences between the two, but strangely the quiet moments exchanged between the girls was almost comfortable. Neither felt the need to fill up time by making conversation unless something needed to be brought up, and both respected each other’s space and solitude. Their relationship wasn’t close per se, but they seemed to have a level of understanding between them that was evident to most people.

Kass was like a happy medium between the two older girls. She was around as much as Mai was, and there was plenty of social interaction between them, usually spurred on by Kass’ outgoing personality and cheerfulness. It was perhaps because of that that the two youngest of the dorm got along so well and Fuu was grateful for this, as she wasn’t much of a person to catalyze any bonding time unless it was completely necessary.  

Stepping through the elevator doors, she hoped that she hadn’t kept them waiting too long.  Her paranoia subsided as she walked into the lobby, and she found no trace of Kass or Mai anywhere. She stood awkwardly in the middle of the room for a few minutes before spotting some seats nearby and plopped down, taking out her cell phone to play some games while she waited.  

Surprised to see a missed text from Kass, she flipped open her cellular device and read over the message.  Apparently coordi had entrusted her to do some last minute duties with apparel and she would be held up for an indefinite amount of time. She had also mentioned that Mai was probably still in the studio refining any dance routines with Park Namyong and would also be late. She put away her phone and looked around, nodding at passers-by and her co-workers who were also heading home for the night. Fidgeting in her seat, she kept her eyes to the ground as she waited for her roommates to be finished. A tall shadow suddenly loomed over her and she tensed up, slowly bringing her eyes upward. Breathing out a sigh of relief, she smiled up at Nichkhun.

“You scared me,” she said, clutching her chest in mock panic.  

He laughed and Fuu could see Taecyeon and Junsu making their way towards the pair from the elevators.

“What are you doing here? It’s late,” she said, standing up.  

“Shouldn’t I be asking you that question?” Nichkhun asked, raising his eyebrows. “Where are Renn and the other girls? Are you going home by yourself?”

Fuu was touched by the concern she caught in his tone. When she had first heard of 2PM and their members, she had always thought Nichkhun’s “prince” image was a facade, if not completely fake or forced. Though knowing him these past few months she had been proved completely wrong.

“I’m waiting for Kass and Mai,” she responded. “Don’t sound so worried, I’m a big girl.”

At that point Nichkhun had taken Fuu’s vacant seat. “We’ll wait with you.” His voice sounded firm, and he looked up, expecting her to protest.  

Fuu let out an exaggerated huff, there wasn’t any point in arguing as they both knew who would win. Junsu and Taecyeon had finally reached them, both shooting Nichkhun a confused look before following suit and taking the empty seats on his right. Nichhun patted the seat to his left and Fuu sat down, looking at the row of boys that had joined her.  

An awkward silence hung over them before Fuu decided to take the initiative and leaned forward, “So... why are you guys still here?” It was a simple question, likely to receive dead-end answers, but it was a start.

All three started talking at once, and she caught bits and pieces of what they said.  Her ears perked up when she heard Renn’s name and she looked at Junsu, or at least she thought he was the one who said her unnie’s name. He caught her gaze and repeated what he said.

“I just came back from hanging out with Junho and Renn,” he said, smiling, “I think both of them are still in the studio, but I doubt Renn is leaving anytime soon.”

Fuu nodded her head. The excitement she felt at having Renn walk home with her and the other girls suddenly dampened with the end of Junsu’s statement. She smiled at her oppa and realized that this was one of those rare moments where she was actually conversing with Junsu. Granted she didn’t spend as much time with the boys altogether like her roommates did, Junsu was one of the members she hadn’t really gotten to know. They were acquaintances, but their relationship was based on the fact that they knew each other through a friend of a friend.  

The same went with her relationships with Wooyoung, Junho, and possibly Chansung. Where Junho was, her unnies Renn or Mai were sure to be with him, and they didn’t socialize outside of the general friendly greetings and small talk; Fuu noticed that he seemed to be more caught up with her unnies to really get into any deep conversation with her. Wooyoung, in his case, seemed to be everywhere and didn’t have any particular person he gravitated to, but Fuu found that she couldn’t think of any topics that might hold his attention long enough for them to get close. Chansung was... well, he was Chansung. Though he usually hung around with Kass, he had the same friendly demeanor and would often help her out with her Korean from time to time or strike up conversation if they were with each other.  

This left her with the English speaking members. Due to the current circumstances, she had been robbed of any opportunity to warm up to Jay or even witness his playful antics everyone talked about. With Taecyeon it was plain to see where she stood with her affections for him, out of all the boys she interacted with him the most, though she wasn’t capable of gauging their relationship status as anything but friends. She was on much better terms with Nichkhun though, it seemed she wasn’t as nervous or quiet when she was with him, he always had a way of easing the atmosphere. Still, Fuu couldn’t exactly say she was the closest to him based on his actions- he was nice to everyone.  

Their conversation was suddenly cut short when she heard the maknae’s familiar voice. “Unnie! Unnie, guess what?! Renn-unnie is coming,” Kass was all smiles as she exited out of the elevator.  “I found out she was in the building, so I texted her and convinced her to walk home with us.”  

Fuu returned the younger girl’s smile and stood up, greeting Kass, “That’s great!”

The rest of the boys stood up as well and said hi, with Taec slightly more animated as he struck up a conversation with her. Before Fuu knew it, Khun had also joined in on their discussion with Junsu listening in and adding his two cents every now and again. She suddenly felt as if she was intruding on some group’s secret meeting and she stepped back a bit, surveying the trio from the outside. She listened in of course, trying to find a suitable place to jump in but she found that the opportunity wasn’t presenting itself. It seemed effortless, the way they were all socializing. Fuu found herself become slightly envious of the fact that Kass was so outgoing and talkative. While she floundered around wondering if Taecyeon even acknowledged her, Kass would simply have to make an appearance in order to get everyone talking.  

Their discussion started dying down when Junsu started waving at someone behind her. Everyone looked towards the staircase to see Mai, Wooyoung, and Chansung making their way down to the lobby. Mai looked somewhat confused seeing such a large group awaiting them, while the two boys with her raced down the stairs to greet everyone. Kass quickly went up to Mai to tell her the news about Renn, though it seemed that she already knew.  

Joining the rest of them, Mai walked up to Nichkhun and looked up at him. “Yah, don’t think I didn’t see you mess up today during practice. I saw you trying to leave early...” Her voice was neutral as she scolded him, and Fuu couldn’t tell if her unnie was actually angry or not.

Nichkhun quickly tried explaining himself while Wooyoung and Chansung jokingly poked fun at Mai’s seriousness behind her. Fuu looked around, trying to find someone to interact with, but it seemed everyone had already preoccupied themselves with a partner or partners. Taecyeon and Kass had picked up right where they left off in their conversation, and Junsu was poking fun at Nichkhun, glad to be an onlooker instead of being on the receiving end of Mai’s lecture. Fuu thought of placing herself with the two jokesters behind Mai, but thought against it, feeling she’d bring their humorous atmosphere down if she tried incorporating any of her dry humor into it.  

Once again, Fuu found herself to be a separate party looking in from the outside and she wondered whether or not she was choosing to be a loner, or if the situation just made her out to be one. A few minutes passed, with Fuu standing quietly on the sidelines. She nodded every now and again when she was referenced in conversation or asked to agree on anything, although she couldn’t find an appropriate sentence to officially integrate herself into the talkfest.  

A large commotion erupted among all the sub-groups and Fuu saw a few of the boys jogging towards the elevator. Kass was suddenly excited and Fuu turned around to see that Renn had finally showed up with Junho in tow.  

“Everyone is here!” Kass said excitedly as she ran to greet her unnie.

Fuu waved to Renn, not wanting to get tangled in the sea of people who were embracing her. Mai had also chosen not to step forward to give any hugs, and was instead, eyeing the couple that had just made their arrival. Nonetheless, she smiled in acknowledgment to them and waited while everyone converged together again. It was utter chaos at that point, with several people talking at the same time and people towering over other people in an enclosed group. The worker who was manning the desk in the lobby seemed to be very surprised to see so many people interacting at such a late time.  

Fuu started getting a bit disoriented being surrounded by so much noise and she was thankful that the groups had dispersed slightly as people fell back into their previous huddles.  

“Renn, Mai is picking on me! Are you going to let her do that?” Fuu heard Nichkhun say in english jokingly towards her unnie.  

“Are you trying to sneak your way out of this like you did during practice?” Mai asked, trying to keep her voice firm, though she seemed to falter a bit as a small smile graced her face.  

Renn laughed and stepped towards Nichkhun, falling into his arms for a quick hug. “I feel like we haven’t talked in forever, how have you been?”

There was a slight shift in the atmosphere as Nichkhun became engrossed in catching up with Renn, leaving Mai standing next to them, her socializing with the Thai seemed to have suddenly stopped. Fuu wasn’t sure what was going through Mai’s head, but the older girl quickly turned to Junho and tilted her head.

“I do not pick on you guys,” she stated. Fuu wasn’t sure if her unnie was being playful or serious, though knowing Mai it was probably the latter.

Looking at everybody in the room, Fuu realized that her roommates had all made bonds with the boys, something that she hadn’t achieved just yet. They all had some prior history with these girls, whether it be past schooling, or even something as simple as being part of the company longer, everyone in the lobby had a past with one another, everyone except for Fuu. This realization suddenly intensified her loneliness being amongst these people and she shrank back further, slowly making her way towards the outskirts of the small crowd. She hadn’t made an impact with any of them at all, Fuu doubted she could even do so at this point. She didn’t have Kass’s bubbly personality, Renn’s warm demeanor, and though she was similar to Mai in terms of solitude, Fuu did not possess the choreographer’s intimidating and mysterious air.  

She was conflicted, what exactly was she feeling right now? Jealousy? Sadness? Maybe resentment towards the three girls who she’d come to know as her closest friends? Fuu did not have time to dwell on her emotions for too long as a loud voice suddenly overrode everyone else. 2PM’s manager had just walked through the double doors and started rounding them up; apparently they had been dawdling for the last hour or so and he had been waiting for them outside in the van. A few of them groaned in disappointment as they started filing out, waving goodbye to the four girls. It seemed eerily quiet once PM left and the girls huddled together as they made their way out of the building.

Kass linked arms with Mai and Renn, with the latter linking arms with Fuu. “That was so exciting! I hope we all get to meet up with each other like that again,” Kass said. She seemed to be extra chipper after the whole meetup and had a slight skip in her walk. “Are you okay Fuu-unnie?” she asked, noticing Fuu’s blank face.

Fuu just nodded and plastered a smile to her face, looking forward so she wouldn’t have to make eye contact with the maknae. She was still a bit confused, but she pushed it to the back of her mind as the quartet walked out into the brisk night air.